Thoughts are constantly flowing in and out of our mind.
Emotions, experiences, people around us, workplace, and school are just a few examples of what triggers various thoughts.
Despite the type of thoughts we have, they are all based on a story we tell ourselves.
This story perhaps has been told to us from a young age, or it may be a story from someone else’s experience, or it’s a story you have created from your experiences in your life. It doesn’t matter where it comes from, what tends to really matter is your belief in it and your dedication in proving to yourself and others that your story is true.
Let me give you a personal example. At age 11 I first developed psoriasis. I had never had any issues with my skin in the past and no one in my family did either. So this was very new to us all. As the disease progressed, the doctor visits become more frequent, the common feedback I received from my specialists were, “Your psoriasis is very severe and you aren’t responding to treatment as other patients do”. So here is what I heard…..
You’re screwed!
We have no idea how to help you!
You are stuck with this for the rest of your life!
This was during my teenage years, which is a very influential time in a person’s life as we often look up to adults to show us how to deal with various challenges in our life. For me, I was raised to look up to doctors as they have all the answers and all of a sudden there were none. (I now know that they are just people and will endeavor to help wherever they can) With this information my story was focused on the bad deal I got dealt with my body. Why is my body so difficult? Why can’t it just do what everyone else’s body does? Why am I being punished?
I think this is a very normal reaction in people who are challenged with poor health, but now as a Chinese Medicine practitioner for 15 years I look at my circumstances from a completely different perspective.
So here is what I have learnt…… My body didn’t appreciate being suppressed by various medications, it wanted to be heard. All my symptoms were simply the only way my body could protect me and get me to change the dietary and lifestyle choices I was making that weren’t favourable for my health. Based on the above point; my body is highly intelligent, I need to trust it more and I need to stop and listen to it. Most importantly, the human body is constantly trying to achieve optimal health and is in a constant state of rejuvenation.
As you can imagine, it took a lot of time and a lot of soul searching to come to this place. One of the books I have read and helped me understand my circumstance was Byron Katie’s book Loving What Is. This book encourages you to ask yourself 4 questions that will help alleviate pain and suffering in your life that are manifested by beliefs and thoughts. The only pre-requisite is to have an open mind. Here are the 4 Questions:
- Is it true? (Yes or no. If no, move to question 3.)
- Can you absolutely know that it’s true? (Yes or no.)
- How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?
- Who would you be without the thought?
Answering these questions as honestly as possible will work in your favour. I’d encourage you to not focus on being right but more focus towards understanding where your thoughts are coming from. If you can work towards staying in your own business and enjoying the moment you are in, naturally a feeling of peace fills your heart. If this is something you’d like to look into, have a read of an excerpt of the book here: Loving What Is by Byron Katie.
Let me know how you go. Reading this book has really changed the way I process my thoughts and even how I look at conflict around me. Irene.
